Pakistan complains after drone strike kills eight

Pakistan has strongly condemned a US drone strike that killed at least eight people on Thursday morning as the two allies continue to row over continued use of such attacks.

The US drone fired three missiles into a madrassa, or Islamic school, killing at least two militants as well as clerics and students in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in what was only the second such US attack outside of tribal areas in recent years.

“These strikes are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement. “There is an across-the-board consensus in Pakistan that these drone strikes must end.”

Former cricketer Imran Khan, whose party leads a coalition administration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said that the provincial cabinet was due to take a final decision on closing NATO supply lines to neighboring Afghanistan in protest at the US.

He added: “We will hold a historic rally in Saturday against the drone strike.”

The latest attack comes a day after Pakistani Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz told a Senate committee that the US had assured Pakistan it would not carry out drone attacks during future peace talks between the government and the Taliban.